Burial vault cover



w. w. H'AAsE VBURIAL. vAuLT covER sept. ze, 195o Z 2 of@ @fo i A a ,f w MI .il Hl. 6 m. EMM. i m../J. m, ,fd f d n .i .v ./f u d, a Z/ I? f m@ A y Patented Sept. 26, 1950 BURIAL VAULT COVER Wilbert W. Haase, Forest Park, Ill., assignor to Wilbert Manufacturers Association,

Forest Park, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 15, 1945, Serial No. 616,628

(o1. vz-Jz) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a burial vault cover and, more particularly, to a cover for a concrete burial Vault.

Heretofore in the art it has been common practice for manufacturers of concrete burial vault covers to unload the same at some convenientl and unobtrusive point in a cemetery prior to the'interment. After interment the burial vault cover is moved by means of a wheel-bearing grave vault cover carrier to a point adjacent the grave open- `ing in which the body or base of the vault with the casket therein are arranged.

In order to move the burial vault cover into the grave opening a portable trackway is provided and one typical form of such a trackway is shown in my United States Patent No. 2,112,286 granted March 29, 1938, on Burial Apparatus. Such a trackway is provided with parallel guide rails each having a portion extending to one side f the grave Iopening. These parallel guide rails are adapted to support a grave vault cover carrier provided with flanged guide wheels and such a burial vault cover carrier is shown in my aforesaid patent. The burial vault cover is laid upon this carrier and moved thereon into a position over the grave opening into which it is lowered by any suitable burial vault lowering or winch device.

`While burial vault cover carriers of the character shown in my aforesaid patent are, in general, quite satisfactory they are somewhat `expensive to manufacture and hence add materially to the funeral directors investment. y i i Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel concrete burial vault cover which in use eliminates the need for the use of the burial vault cover carriers heretofore used for moving burial vault covers from a point adjacent a grave opening into a position above the grave opening.

Another object'of the invention is to provide a novel concrete burial vault cover having formed integrally therein shaft bearing openings, each adapted to have removably inserted therein a shaft or trunnion bearing a flanged anti-friction roller or guide wheel to the end that the new concrete burial vault cover may be moved upon said flanged guide rollersacross a trackway from a point adjacent a grave opening to a point above the grave opening and the burial vault cover then raised slightly and the detachable guide roller shafts, with the flanged guide rollers thereon, then removed from their bearing openings or sockets in the body of the burial vault cover.

Other and further objects of the present lnvention will be apparent from the following description and claim and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which, by way of illustration, shows a preferred embodiment of the invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which 1 have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating the new concrete burial vault cover and showing the same in full lines disposed in a position adjacent a grave opening and ready to be moved into a position above the grave opening and in which latter position it is shown in dottedlines in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2'is an edge elevational view on line 2-2 in Fig. -1; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of the new concrete burial vault cover on line 3-3 in Fig. 2, showing one of the shaft or bearing sockets formed therein and showing one of the shafts or trunnions removably mounted in said bearing opening or socket.

A typical embodiment of the new concrete burial vault cover is illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, wherein it is generally indicated at I0. and comprises a substantially rectangular body I I suitably sized, shaped, and formed to fit upon the body of a concrete burial vault (not shown) of a corresponding size and shape, and which may be of the general construction shown in my United States Patent No. 1,839,149 granted December 29, 1931, on a Burial Vault.

The body Il of the new concrete burial vault cover I0 has four substantially similar sockets or bearing openings I3 formed therein, one at each corner thereof, and each of these bearing openings or sockets I3 is adapted to have a guide roller shaft or trunnion I2 removably journaled therein.

The sockets or bearing openings I3 may be formed in any suitable manner in the concrete of which the grave vault cover l0 is composed as by having the concrete poured around a suitable mold during the operation of forming or molding the new concrete vault cover.

Each of the trunnions or shafts I4 has a reduced end portion I4, providing a shoulder I5, and a flanged guide roller I6 is rotatably mounted on the reduced end portion I4 of each of the trunnlons or shafts I2 and is held thereon in any suitable manner as by means of a retaining nut I'I threaded onto a threaded outer end of each shaft I2, as shown in the drawing.

The long axes of the bearing sockets or shaft openings I3 and the trunnions or shafts I2 removably mounted therein extend parallel to each other and to the long axis of the body II of the burial vault cover' I0.

In the use of the new concrete burial vault cover shown in the drawing a guide rail I8 is arranged at each side of the grave opening 2U, these guide rails I8 being mounted on supporting feet or pedestals I9, which may be a part of a burial vault lowering device, one of these supporting pedestals I9 being arranged at' each corner of the grave opening 20, as shown in Fig. 1. Each of the guide rails I8 is supported by two of the supporting feet or pedestals I9.

A burial apparatus of the character which may be employed in manipulating the body of the gravey vault and.' the new grave vault cover is showny in my United States vPatent No. 2,112,286 granted March 29, 1938, on Burial Apparatus and embodiesa pair of winch shafts (not herein shown) but one of which` extends between each pair of adjacent supporting feet or pedestals- IQ. Each of such winch. shafts has a pair of flexible members windable thereon and Aby means of which the body or base of the burialA vault and its cover may be lowered into a grave opening.

In the use of the new burial vault cover, the same may be transported to1thev cemetery and the shafts or trunnions I2 slipped into their bearing sockets o1- shaft openingsv whereupon the-grave'vault cover I8 with the guide rollersY I5 thus mounted thereon` may belowered ontothe guiderails I8 at one side of the graveV opening. After interment the burial vault cover` II)` may then be rolled along the guide railsl I8i into a position above the grave opening 2.0- and during this operation the anged guide rollers I6 rotate upon the shafts I2 and are guided `along-the guide rails I 8;

Accordingly,l the body ofi the burial vault (not shown) has. been lowered into the grave openr ing 2Q, andthe casket lowered thereinto, the vaultI cover I8 may then be raised' slightly by means of the vault lowering device, (not shown) so-as toraise the flanged guide wheels or rollers I 8 above the guide rails I8, and when thus raised the ilanged guide wheels or rollers I6 and attached shafts or. trunnions I2 may be detached from the body of the Vault cover I by slipping the trunnions or shafts I2l out of their sockets or shafts openings I3, burial'vault cover IE) may thenv be completed by means` of a vault lowering device suchy asV that to which I have referred above.

Inv order to prevent the two lead guide rollers I 6 from running oi the guide rails I8duringthe operation of moving the burial vault coverY IIJ into position above the. grave openingf; anotch The lowering -ofthe or cut-out 2I may be provided in each of the guide rails I8 adjacent one end thereof (Fig. 1).

Hence it will be seen that the new grave vault cover having the flanged guide rollers I2 detachably mounted thereon dispenses with the need for a separate vault cover carrier device for transporting the vault cover over the guide rails I8 from a ypoint adjacent the grave opening to a point above the grave opening and thus effects an economy in the investment required of the vfuneral director while, at the same time, simpli- -fying the handling of the vault cover by reducing 'the amount of apparatus required to move the vault cover from a point adjacent the grave opening into a position above the grave opening.

It will thus be seen from the foregoing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, that the present invention provides a novel concrete burial vault cover having the desirable advantages and characteristics, and accomplishing its intended objects, including those hereinbefore pointed out and other's which are inherent in the invention.

I claim:

The combination with a trackway including spaced rails, each including a wheel restraining surface confining lateral movement of a` wheel relative thereto and each rail extendingtransL versely above andl laterally of a grave opening, of a burial vault cover provided with spaced pairs of stub axle receiving sockets extending inwardly from the oppositeend edgesy thereof, and a plurality of wheel assemblies each including aI stub axle and a wheel operably supported thereon with the stub axles solely loosely engage'able -i-n the suckets,` the wheels being engageablewith the. trackway to support the cover' and each wheel having a surface engageable with thesaid restraining surface of the rails whereby the en"- gagement between said surfaces constitutes means for retaining the axles temporarily in placeV in-` the sockets when the cover isl moved from a'- position laterally of to a` position over the grave opening. or vice versa.

WILBERT w. HAASE.-

REFERENCES CITED The renewing references are' of' rcrd f the me of this patent:

NTED 'STATES PATENTS" Number Name Date 714,663 Brannock Dec; 2', 14902 1,541,280 Replogle Y Y; vJuneQ, 1925 2,163,173 Y VHaase r i June 20, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS l Nu'rriberY Country ,Y ljate 134,486 Great Britain T Novrflgl? 514,650 France -Mar. 15,1921 

